Review Corner: THE FIRE INSIDE: A COMPANION FOR THE CREATIVE LIFE by Lucy Adkins & Becky Breed #bookreview

 

Title: THE FIRE INSIDE: A COMPANION FOR THE CREATIVE LIFE
Author: Lucy Adkins & Becky Breed
Publisher: WriteLife Publishing
Pages: 290
Genre: Creativity / Self-Help

BOOK BLURB:

The underlying principle of The Fire Inside is that we all have within us vast untapped reservoirs of creativity, and when we recognize and begin to connect with that potential, our lives will open in ways we cannot begin to imagine. Many books have been written about the art and craft of individual disciplines of creativity. Yet few are so inclusive, so welcoming as this book, offering insight not only for furthering ones abilities in the traditional arts, but also in our day to day creativity, which so enriches our lives.

Based on the authors’ combined fifty-five years of teaching, working with writing groups and providing workshops on writing and creativity, The Fire Inside is written in a spirit of warmth and generosity. It invites the reader to:

Say yes to creativity and the nurturing it provides

Choose to live a bigger life

Uncover inner sources of inspiration and discover how “the magic” happens

Become a part of the creative community

Let go of forces that try to limit you

Develop skills for what it takes to live more creatively

Locate the “sweet spot” needed to build your life as an artist and creative being

Wherever  one may be in his or her creative life—just tiptoeing in or fully immersed in the life of the imagination, The Fire Inside will be a companion in that life, a source of encouragement and inspiration. The manuscript is composed short essays designed to provide a daily dose of support and motivation. It includes anecdotes, inspirational quotations and end of chapter meditations and exercises which ask Why not me? What gets in my way of being creative? In what unknown ways am I waiting to blossom. 

More and more, we hunger for meaning and for opportunities of self-expression. The Fire Inside, in its bite-sized essays which can be read in five or ten minute increments, speaks to that hunger, and provides a source of the creative nourishment we all need.

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I have to admit, this book was a rejuvenator. By the time I had finished reading it, I was literally fired up. The Fire Inside: A Companion for the Creative Life by Lucy Adkins & Becky Breed truly opened up my eyes am so glad I got the opportunity to read it. So many books get buried under all the noise; this was a true gem that needs to shine. 

In the first part of the book (and in which made me truly made me start thinking), the authors wrote:

"When we were children, we lived in worlds rich in imagination, allowing us to transform a blanket draped over a chair into a cave, the tree-filled ditch behind the house into a secret forest. We carried out endless adventures in the worlds we created, the synapses in our brains sparking with delight and excitement. But when we become adults and take on duty and responsibility, we don’t invite imagination out to play as much as we used to. "

That right there. Whatever happened to our creativity as we grew up? Would we look silly building a fort in the living room with sheets or would we have to wait until a kid came along and 'pretend' to help them build it while all along we were continuing with our creativity as adults? I have to admit - when I grew up, I lost that side of my psyche but then again maybe it morphed into other creativity bursts - like writing perhaps?

The authors tell us to use our muscles of creativity. What if we don't know where to start? That's where The Fire Inside comes in and is a godsend. 

Because we are so wrapped up in life, we tend to not have 'time' for our own creativity to spill out into everyday life, but the authors allowed it to happen to a point where they just had to write a book about it. Not everyone is aware, but Adkins and Breed are in it to win it and are here to share their revelations with us.

Just like the title implies, we all must find the fire within ourselves and what better way to start by reading The Fire Inside: A Companion for the Creative Life. You won't be sorry!

Highly highly recommend and so I give it 5 gold stars!